Locomotive front end



LOCOMOTIVE FRONT END Filed Sept. 14,. 1942 Patented Aug. 22, 19442,356,217 .LOCOMOTIVE rnonr sp Gust J. Christenson, Chicago, "111.,'assignor to Locomotive Firebox-Company,"Chicago, Ill., a corporationiofDelaware AppIicationJSeptember 14,.1942 Serial N ,45s,2. 27

UNITED STATES PATENT mm;

12 Claims. (crest-9r This invention relates to improvements in 1locomotivefront ends and it consists of the mattershereinafter described.and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims. The inventionis, more especially concerned with front ends equipped withsparkarresters having vanes or deflectors which impart a centrifugal orwhirling .action to the products of combustion (gasesrand cinders)beforethey are discharged through the stack with the exhaust steam fromthe nozzle in the front end. .Spark arresters of this type are. moreefficient in their spark arresting action than those whichemploy a wovenwire screen or netting .for spark arresting purposes. In the latter typeof .spark arresters, the

screen or netting soon becomes cinder cut so as to permit the dischargeof sparks from .the stack and such arresters require frequentpatching orrenewal of the screen or. netting.

However, spark ,arresters which induce the centrifugal or whirlingaction to the products of combustion have a tendency .to cause a morerapid wear'in the lift pipe or stack so thatthe periods of usefulness ofthe same is much .reduced. The .wear mentioned is produced by cindersentering the lift pipe, and stack .with a I amore or less horizontaldirection due to the centrifugal action in the arrester and stack as- Isembly. 'The centrifugal .or whirling action of the cinders at the topof the stack prevents the finer cinders from beinglifted high enoughabove -thestack to escape from being blown back toward and into the cab.

One of the objects ofthev invention vis to p vide a centrifugal sparkarrestereduipped front end wherein the products. of combustion enteringthe lift pipe and stack from the, arrester,

aresubjected to a reversal of flow so that they.

are discharged'up through and outof the stack with a substantiallynon-whirling action.

Another of the objects of the invention is to provide a locomotive frontend ofthe kindjust above mentioned wherein theproducts of com-- bation-ent rin hezlii nir aw ar 9 vmet d ihwer xawey ;i iel h;th .;ih e h.shr ee -thereo eto pas 1 p three h t e e e w the exhaust st am ieehrsed by th e ee ieie nozzle. I

a o anothe ebiee .e t vi e ieh he "prev de a i on; @9 thety.. h.e hd epa whi iedu th ieihde e t end, weeri e :ee e enth hftpi e end-f t A u te Qbie t Q .-the; hY he ete p ov d e front end h ete wh eh ine reee s bta ha ls ee h e ieht heuis me t ,e ee l sparks th m htrae threee theareete em we t I same. t me w l hre t h nd r hwerdl i d the e h n t lhalh. i iejehe ie d .iht th lift :pipe and stack to be ejected so ;highabove l e th t theva i hot hlewh :h ek ther hteieefee r h .inveht en toproe .hle bea phed to. hhhhd moti es alre d A a n. i s.

Z'h Ie erv e hit. t a em ameunt of expen an which devi e w l -.re ihe t.hhhimhm th inde 1 cut n fiQiE QZ w e whi h ueh a thr ugh a .l emot arest r-.ihsh ee i t el fnipeah etae E he abo e .rhehtieaed ehiee ee thnvent on a :we ;.oth rs to ethe :with the advanta e th nee wi l mor ul y,anpearga thespecification proceeds.

z nz hed awihg .E s- 11 s alensitudinal v rtical ect n i nt en emh si et .nre e.r.re -e m q t ei nventi hn.

, ,F g- 1: is .iher z nt .se tiona -r view t ou t sam o a enlar ed sca ate ehv en the .aRBferring vnow.. rL etai1 to. that em odim nt of theinvention illustrated inittheadrawinaffi indigates thqtubular body pf; alocomotive smoke;box

;. hell, h h is connected at ;i.ts rear end to the h Th i te ior of theek jl eeeflsh 'r separat from the water "spac o th le i ershell b aflue. sheet :1. .The

front en dof flues; 8, arese cured in -the flue sheet a t u enahswl l ei to th m kezbo shell sth e rqdh tee :eeth h tien f o the :firebohet-ehewm 1 .if l om t ve 9 i icates te rh luftlhpe wh h e ends rrom ii-ind a e bottoh 'End-Ofj-the-stack;l2 a suitable dish nc dewnwamrih o tsmoke ,bo shell.

1-3 indicates the exhaust stand or..pipe .which rises from thelppttomofi the smokegbox shell in axial alighmenttiththeliftlpipeandstack. Said i at 2| in Fig. 1, is as follows: a a

stand or pipe is relatively low or short and carries at its top end anexhaust nozzle or tip I4 of any approved kind.

In the smoke box shell is located a centrifugal spark arrester of theso-called circumferentially open type and the same is indicated as awhole by the numeral [5. Such an arrester, which is cylindricalin shape,has its axis arranged in aligmnent with the axis of both the tip ornozzle I4 and the lift pipe II. It comprises vertically spaced apartcircular top and bottom plates l6 and I1 respectively and perpendicularvanes or deflector plates l8 fixed at their ends to said plates. The topplate I6 has a central opening l9 therein of one diameter, and thebottom plate I! also has a central opening 20 therein of a smallerdiameter to accommodate the exhaust tip or nozzle before mentioned,which is disposed within the arrester. The arrester structure beforementioned is fastened in position in the smoke box shell in any suitablemanner and one manner will be mentioned later but the same forms noparticular part of the invention. Therefore the same is neither shownnor described in detail.

In the present instance the deflector vanes or plates [8 of the arresterare disposed tangentially to the axis of the arrester as a whole andextend inwardly from the circle of the top and bottom plates thereof toterminate short of the circleof the opening 19 in the top plate.

As the products of combustion enter the smoke box shell from the flues8, they are distributed about the open periphery of the arrester. Thismovement of the products of combustion is produced by the draft actionof the exhaust steam jet discharged from the nozzle or tip I and whichaction causes an entrainment of said products up through the lift pipeand stack for dislift pipe and stack, I interpose between said lift pipeand said arrester a structure which counteracts the whirling action ofthe products of combustion and causes them to be directed inwardly awayfrom the internal surfaces thereof into the path of the exhaust steampassing up the stack and such means, which is indicated as a whole 22and 23indicate'the top and bottom vertically spaced circular rings ofsaid means. Said rings, as shown herein; are of like diameter and whichdiameter approximates that of the lift pipe and the opening l9 inthe topplate l of the arrester so that the top ring maybe passed through saidopeningfrom below. These rings are held in their spaced relation bymeans ofa plurality of Vertically disposed vanes or deflector plates 24whichare'welde'd-or otherwise secured in edge to edge relation thereto.Said vanes or plates are disposed tangentially to the axis of the rings2223,- butface in'a-direction opposed to that of the deflector plates orvanes l8 of .plate of the deflector. The totalarea oftheopenings orpassageways between the vanes 2424 is smaller than that of the areaunder the lift pipe and a relative proportion between these areas, ofabout 1 to 3 has given good results.

The top ring 22 is provided with an outwardly extending radial portionor flange 25 which is disposed a short distance below the top plate ofthe arrester and thereforeall of the vanes 24 are entirely within theupper portion of the arrester l5. Bolts 26 pass up through the flange25, top plate [6 of the arrester, as well as through the horizontalflange 21 (see Fig. 1) of an angle bar ring on the bottom end of thelift pipe, so that nuts 28 may be applied to the top end of said boltsproperly to hold the assembly together. It is pointed out that intightening up the nuts 28 on the bolts 26, the top edge of the top ring22 is drawn into a tight fitting engagement with the bottom edge of thelift pipe as appears in By reason of the opposed direction of the vanes24 with respect to the direction of the vanes ll! of the arrester I5,said vanes 24 counteract the whirling action of the products ofcombustion as they enter the channels or spaces therebetween from theinterior of the arrester and directs them, and more particularly thecinders, away from the internal surface of the lift pipe and stack, intothe column of exhaust steam discharged into the lift pipe and stack bythe nozzle or tip 14. The vanes 24 also assist in extinguishing suchsparks as may impinge thereagainst. Thus but a small part of theproducts of combustion and cinders, if any at all, are permitted toengage said internal surface so that wear thereof, due to cinder cuttingaction is remd to a minimum. Furthermore, because of the counterdirectional action of the vanes 24, the products as they enter the stackmove more nearly as a non-whirling stream. Also, it is pointed out asthe products of combustion are directed into the column of exhauststeam, and are not whirling rapidly if at all, they are propelled orlifted so high above the top end of the stack l2 that they clear the cabentirely when blown back by the wind stream action of the locomotivewhile under way.

In locomotives in. service and equipped with the spark arrester [5described, the bolts 25 and nuts 21 are employed to support the arresterfrom the lift pipe H. One way to install the means 2| in such alocomotive is as follows: the bolts 26 are removed and a sufficientnumber of vanes l8 are removed from the front of the arrester, after theremoval of the front 9 from the smoke box shell. The means 2| as aunitary structure is entered into the front of the arrester and ispositioned in place and the bolts and nuts replaced and tightened up asbefore mentioned. The vanes l8 removed from the arrester are restoredand the front 9 is then reapplied to the smoke box shell.

The construction described is simple and inexpensive and is indeedefficient'in reducing to a minimum the wear on the lift pipe and stackand the blowing back of fine cinders into the cab.

While in describing my invention I have referred in detail to the form,arrangement and construction of'the parts involved, the same is to beconsidered only in the illustrative sense so that I do not wish to belimited thereto except as may be specifically set forth in the appendedclaims.

I claim as my invention: 1. In combination with a smoke box," a smokestack having a bottom end portion disposed in the smoke box, a nozzlearranged to discharge exhaust steam into said smoke stack portion, meansin said smoke box for imparting a whirling action in one direction tothe products of combustion entering the same under the action of theexhaust steam discharged by the nozzle, and means associated with saidbottom end portion of the stack for counteracting said whirling actionof said products of combustion as they enter said bottom end portion ofthe stack by effecting reversal of flow of at least a part of saidproducts of combustion, thereby causing the products of combustiondischarging up through the stack to move as a substantially non-whirlingstream.

2. In combination with a smoke box, a smoke stack having a bottom endportion disposed in the smoke box, a nozzle arranged to dischargeexhaust steam into said smoke stack portion, means in said smoke box forimparting a whirling action in one direction to the products ofcombustion entering the same under the action of the exhaust steamdischarged by the nozzle, and

means associated with said bottom end portion of the stack and includinga plurality of vanes 1 for counteracting said whirling action of saidproducts of combustion as they enter said bottom end portion of thestack by effecting a reversal of flow of at least a part of saidproductsof combustion, thereby causing the products of combustiondischarging up through the stack to move as a substantiallynon-'whirlingstream. v

3. In combination with a smoke box, a smoke stack having a bottom endportion disposed in the smoke box, a nozzle arranged to dischargeexhaust steam into said smoke stack portion, means in said smoke box andincluding a plurality of vanes which face in one direction for impartinga whirling action in said one direction to the products of combustionentering the same under the action of the exhaust steam discharged bythe nozzle, and means associated with said bottom end portion of thestack for counteracting said whirling action of said products ofcombustion as they enter said bottom end portion of the stack byefiecting reversal of flow of at least part of said products ofcombustion, thereby causing the products of combustion discharging upthrough the stack to move as a substantially non-whirling stream.

4. In combination with a smoke box, a smoke stack having a bottom endportion disposed in the smoke box, a nozzle arranged to dischargeexhaust steam into said smoke, stack portion, means in said smoke boxand including a plurality of vanes which face in one direction forimparting a whirling action in said one direction to the products ofcombustion entering the same under the action of the exhaust steamdischarged by the nozzle, and means associated with said bottom endportion of the stack and including vanes arranged to counteract saidwhirling action of said products of combustion as they enter said bottomend portion of the stack by effecting reversal of flow of at least apart of said products of combustion, thereby causing the products 'ofcombustion discharging up through the stack to move as a substantiallynon-whirling stream.

5. In combination with a smoke box, a smoke stack having a bottom endportion disposed in the smoke box, a nozzle arranged to dischargeexhaust steam into said smoke stack portion, means in said smoke box forimparting a whirling action in one direction to the products ofcombustion entering the same under the action of the exhaust steamdischarged by said nozzle, and means associated with said bottom-endportion of the stack anddispo'sed at least in part in said firstmentioned means for counteracting said whirling action of said productsof combustion as they enter said bottom end portion of the stack and fordirecting them inwardly away from the internal surface of the stack forpassage up through the same with the exhaust steam discharged into thestack by said nozzle.

6. In combination with a smoke box, a smoke stack having a bottomendportion disposed in the smoke box, a nozzle arranged to dischargeexhaust steam into said smoke stack portion, means in said smoke box forimparting a whirling action in one direction to the products ofcombustion entering the same under the action of the exhaust steamdischarged by said nozzle, and means associated with the bottom end ofthe stack and disposed at least in part in the firstmentioned means andincluding a pluralit of vanes for counteracting said whirling action ofsaid products of combustion as they enter said bottom end portion of thestack and -for directing them inwardly away from the internal surface ofthe stack for passage up through the same with the exhaust steamdischarged-into the stack by said nozzle.

7. In combination with a smoke box,-a smoke stack having a bottom endportion disposed in the smoke boxyanozzle arranged'to discharge exhauststeam into said smoke stack portion,

means-in said smoke box and including a plurality of vanes which'face inone direction for imparting a whirling action in said one direction tothe products of combustion entering the same under the action of theexhaust steam discharged by said nozzle, and means associated with saidbottom end portion of the stack and disposed at least in part in thefirst mentioned means, for counteracting the whirling action ofcombustion as they enter said bottom end portion of the stack and fordirecting them inwardly away from the internal surface of the stack forpassage up through the same with the exhaust steam discharged by saidnozzle.

8. In combination with a smoke box, a smoke stack having a bottom endportion disposed in the smoke box, a nozzle arranged to dischargeexhaust steam into said smoke stack portion, means in said smoke box andincluding a plurality of vanes which face in one direction for impartinga whirling action in said one direction to the products of combustionentering the same under the action of the exhaust steam discharged bysaid nozzle, and means associated with said bottom end portion of thestack and disposed at least in part in the first mentioned means, andincluding vanes arranged to counteract the whirling action of saidproducts of combustion as they enter said bottom end portion of thestack and to direct them inwardly away from the internal surface of thestack for passage up through the same with the exhaust steam dischargedby said nozzle.

9. In combination with a smoke box, a smoke stack having a bottom endportion disposed in the smoke box, a nozzle arranged to dischargeexhaust steam into said smoke stack portion, means in said smoke box forimparting a whirling action in one direction to the products ofcombustion entering the same under the action of the exhaust steamdischarged by said nozzle, and means associated with the bottom endportion of the stack and including a plurality of vanes disposedentirely within the upper portion of the first mentioned means forcounteracting said whirling action of said products of combustion asthey enter said bottom end portion of the stack and for directing theminwardly away from the internal surface of the stack for passage upthrough the same with the exhaust steam discharged into the stack bysaid nozzle.

10. In combination with a smoke box, a smoke stack having a bottom endportion disposed in the smoke box, a nozzle arranged to dischargeexhaust steam into said smoke stack portion, means in said smoke boxproviding a circumferentially open spark arrester that includes top andbottom walls and a plurality of vanes extending between said walls forimparting a whirling action in one direction to the products ofcombustion entering said arrester between said vanes under the action ofthe exhaust steam discharged by said nozzle, and means having a portiondisposed in said spark arrester and another portion in communicationwith said bottom end portion of the smoke stack for counteracting saidwhirling action of said products of combustion as they enter saidportion of the stack and for directing them inwardly and away from theinternal surface of the stack for passage up through the same withexhaust steam discharged into the stack by said nozzle.

11. In combination with a smoke box, a smoke stack having a bottom endportion disposed in the smoke box, a nozzle arranged to dischargeexhaust steam into said smoke stack portion, means in said smoke box forimparting a whirling action in one direction to the products ofcombustion entering the same under the action of the exhaust steamdischarged by said nozzle, and

means including top and bottom rings and vanes extending therebetween,said top ring communicating with said bottom end portion of the stackand said bottom ring and vanes being disposed within said firstmentioned means and operating to counteract the whirling action of saidproducts of combustion as they enter said bottom end portion of thestack and to direct them inwardly away from the internal surface of thestack for passage up through the same with the exhaust steam dischargedinto the stack by said nozzle.

12. In combination with a smoke box, a smoke stack having a bottom endportion disposed in the smoke box, a nozzle arranged to dischargeexhaust steam into said smoke stack portion, means in said smoke boxproviding a circumferentially open spark arrester that includes top andbottom walls and a plurality of vanes extending between said walls forimparting a, whirling action in one direction to the products ofcombustion entering said arrester between said vanes under the action ofthe exhaust steam discharged by said nozzle, and means associated withsaid bottom end portion of the stack andsaid first mentioned meansrespectively and including a top ring in direct communication with saidportion of the stack and a plurality of vanes extending downwardly fromthe ring and disposed entirely within said first mentioned means forcounvteracting said whirling action of said products of combustion andfor directing them inwardly away from the internal surface of the stackfor passage up through the same with the exhaust steam discharged intothe stack by said nozzle.

GUST J. CHRISTENSON.

